Every time I’m about to give up on "Pretty Little Liars," it reminds me why I watch in the first place.

Last night’s episode was the first time since season 2 kicked off last month that I was actually excited to relive the events through my own recap.

So, without further ado:

Spencer heads back to the pawnshop to collect Melissa’s ring, but finds a horseshoe in the sparkler’s place. Two things:

Where did she get the money to get it back in the first place? Didn’t she use it to buy Toby’s truck?

Where was #ShirtlessToby this episode? Too busy going for joyrides in his new truck, I presume.

But the horseshoe – which I’m adding to my list of unexplained clues, right beneath “snowglobes” – wasn’t the weirdest thing the girls saw. A billboard outside the pawnshop read: “Someone's watching you, so look your best.” Of course it was for an eye doctor.

Things have certainly changed at Emily’s house since she was offered a (pretend) scholarship to swim at Danby. Along with a box of college paraphernalia, she received a hand-written note: “So happy to have you on our A-Team.” Clever.

Later, in the school cafeteria, Hanna and Caleb are reunited – finally. (Caleb was one of several “PLL” references to trend of Twitter last night.) The pair agreed to go on a double date with Lucas and Danielle from yearbook, but only to be Lucas’s “wing-people.”

Aria’s mom, who took over Fitz’s English class, isn’t thrilled when she sees the girls walking together in the hallway. She believes the “bestie ban” – as Hanna dubbed it – should extend to school property. But, after asking Aria to deliver her brother’s keys to him at the park, she backs off.

When Aria gets to the park, she realizes her friends aren’t the only pretty little liars in Rosewood. Mike is nowhere to be found. She does, however, find a slew of shirtless boys, including Jason DiLaurentis, who seems to be pretty into her and her old pink ‘do. Fitz, shmitz.

Spencer, who is either the bravest or dumbest person on this show, visits Wren at the hospital. He tells her Melissa asked him for meds and supplies, and said Ian wouldn’t tell her where he was until she had everything he asked for. At first, Wren says he doesn’t want to get involved, but when he suspects Melissa and Spencer might be in danger, he agrees to help. But I’ll get back to that…

Back at school, it seems things are going well with Emily and Samara (also a trending topic last night). Em tells Samara the truth about Danby, and she reacts without any judgment. She even helps tone down Emily’s mom’s excitement, and keeps her from calling the scout. Paige, who?

After a successful double date, Hanna decides she’s ready to open up to her therapist. In hindsight – silence in golden.

The therapist convinces Hanna to talk to the black leather chair in her office as she would talk to Alison – if she were alive. You were my best friend, but you were also my worst enemy, she says, before Alison appears in the chair.

The scene was pretty intense, but also dragged a bit. That said, Alison, played by 15-year-old Sasha Pieterse, was phenomenal. More please!

After Hanna’s session, the therapist heads back to her office, only to find the whole place trashed. The clock, which she found on the floor, is frozen at 6:05, and the phrase, “Nosy b-- die,” is written on the wall. Police said there weren’t any signs of forced entry, but the therapist insisted she had the only key.

The girls have bigger issues when they find out that Wren and Melissa know Ian’s whereabouts.

They follow them to a barn in the woods, only to find Ian dead, with a bullet through his forehead. The scene looks like a suicide – the gun was placed in Ian’s hand, and a note sat beside his body.

But just in case you didn’t pause your TV to read the entire note (like I did), here it is: “I killed Alison. I lost my temper because she knew too much. But there's only so much you can bury. It won't be that easy but I know how to get rid of the pain. I can't run from the law. Come and find me. -Ian.”

I was half expecting it to be signed “A.” But that wouldn’t make for a very convincing suicide note from a guy named Ian.

What’s up with the horseshoe spray-painted on the wall of the barn? Or the red cell phone our black-gloved friend placed inside the bag in Spencer’s car? What's going on with Aria's brother? So many questions!!

soundoff(19 Responses)

dtcpr

so i;m in my 20s and I live at home to save money and I dvr this show and watch it on my lunch hour and my dad has been watching it with me adn yesterday we are watching it and A is putting the phone in Spencer's purse and my dad is going "it's a Woman, it's a Woman, look at those hands" I just though it was so funny that a man that is almost 60 is getting into this show, that being said I thought the episode was amazing! I am scared for Spencer. Her family already really didn't seem to be on her side and her dating Toby really put most of Rosewood against her. She seems to be be A's favorite Toy right now. I hope she finds the cell phone and hides it from the police. I also hope they notice the horse shoe imprint from the barn then they will KNOW that A killed Ian. On a side note I did not miss Fitz in this episode I am over him. But I loved the double date scene; Hannah really owed it to him and I was glad A let her be nice to him.

In the recap before the episode started, they showed a clip from last week's episode that answered this question. She had the $2000 in the bank but couldn't withdraw it until the bank opened on Monday. I guess she doesn't have a debit card! She sold the ring on Friday or Saturday to get some quick cash and she was planning on getting her $2000 as soon as she could on Monday so that she could go back to the pawn shop.

Perhaps the writer of this article was focusing too much on Twitter instead of paying attention to the episodes. Maybe if you paid attention, you wouldn't be asking such stupid questions or making incomplete observations in your recap.

I think we all saw the ring being gone as no surprise, however, the horse shoe definitely was interesting. In the end of the episode when we see the mark left behind in the horse shoe's place we see how it tied in with the pawn shop. I think A is trying to set Spencer up again to be Ian's killer. First by giving her the horse shoe and second by placing his/her phone in Spencer's bag. Ian did not kill himself, A did, whomever that may be. Every episode I feel like I think A is someone different... Mike seemed fishy in this episode, not that I think he is A but something is definitely up with him. He was being so nasty to Aria, he isn't normally like that. He probably has nothing to do with anyone liked to Alison, it's probably just a drug issue or something but he was just very odd in this episode. It was nice seeing Spencer so concerned for Melissa's well being, we will see how long that'll last. I definitely don't believe that Ian killed himself, I think A did it and I think the counselor is next! Is anyone else as curious as me as to wether Courtney (From the books) will appear in the tv show? I think that'll make for an interesting story line.

I think Aria's brother Mike is just going through a difficult time dealing with his parent’s separation now reunification. I think he is either on drugs, ditching school or hanging out with a bunch of delinquents. My problem throughout last week's show was why is a bunch of high schoolers staying up all night at school preparing a year book? Where were the teachers or parents? My daughter was on yearbook and she NEVER stayed at school all night to meet a deadline!

I agree. I think whats his face, definately wants that girl with the socks. I think she was really in love with that one guy with the ears. But when he found that thing in his car, he knew it had to be that one girl. But all along I think it was the other girl with the long hair. I think she likes whats his face. But you can tell from that one scene that whats her name forgot to hide that thingy & that guy with the elbows will probably find it & know it was her all along. But if I was whats his name, I wouldnt tell that girl with the shoes about that thing that he found or whats her face might be surprised.

I definitely agree with you about this season being dissapointing up until now. Nothing really has happened in any of the episodes until this one, and this definitely had a lot going on. Hopefully they keep this pace up, I was really plesed with how this episode went, and I'm really excited about the rest of the season.

I dont think the horse shoe was spray painted on the wall. It was made to look like a dust mark so you could tell that there was a horseshoe missing from that spot. IE the horse shoe from the pawn shop. It was used to link A to the murder scene.

thanks for posting ians note i dont think that ian killed himself. i think jason killed him and he is making it look like suicide json might also be A and spencer got the money from the bank cuz it wasnt open when she needed the money for the truck. also the horeshoe on the barn wall was not spray painted. it was where the horse shoe from the pawn shop came from, the one spencer has